I absolutely loved the ReMarkable 2 when I reviewed it earlier this year. It was a device that not only felt super cool to use, but has also led to me being more productive, and better at keeping notes, and then actually sticking to them, due to the fact that I was physically writing them down.
The one element that was missing though, especially for someone like me that spends a lot of time writing, was the ability to write articles just like this without distractions, and that’s where the Type Folio comes in.
This is a remarkable (ha) little device, As soon as I unboxed it, I was pleasantly surprised at how well designed and slim it is. Just like the regular folio, it magnetically snaps to the back of the ReMarkable 2 and doubles as a case when not in use.
If you’re wanting to use the device in your normal note taking stance, it adds a little bit of weight and heft but nowhere near the amount that the iPad + keyboard does for instance. If you’re wanting to whip out the keyboard, you just fold the case in on itself, and then can have the keyboard at a lower angle which is perfect for if you’re still wanting to take notes with the pen or a more familiar laptop stance.
Really though, the magic is in how the ReMarkable 2 tablet and Type Folio come together both in hardware and software. As soon as you attach the Folio and pull out the keyboard, the tablet automatically goes into landscape mode, and back into portrait mode when you tuck it away again.
Similarly, the way that your ReMarkable 2 syncs to your desktop/mobile through ReMarkable Connect is really seamless, so you’re able to keep writing away, or view your annotations/markings over on other devices.
The beauty of this keyboard is that you can really just type your thoughts away without having the distractions of messages or the temptation of social media platforms, something I’m all too guilty of. There’s something really special, or nostalgic even about using a device that’s only function is to allow you to be productive to write, or take notes.
I’m not really sure why, but there was something about the keyboard that did require a little bit of adjusting when typing. When comparing it to my MacBook keyboard, the size of the keys and distance between them was almost identical, so it wasn’t that, but I was definitely making more errors initially, but that went away with time. Still though, it’s a great little keyboard for the size.
Obviously as well, it’s worth mentioning that whilst you can use the touch-screen (and arrows) to move your cursor around, it’s not going to be as responsive as using a display, so it can feel a little clunky, but this was a very rare occurrence, and I’d still say with confidence that the lack of distractions more than maybe up for the few more seconds I’d spend having to move my cursor when necessary,
There’s also the ability to flick between Mac or Windows shortcuts, and a helpful little quick menu that runs you through all the shortcuts, and you can easily bold and italicise as well as copy and paste and all of that good stuff, so functionality-wise, it’s bang on.
If you’re a ReMarkable 2 user, even at $300 AUD, I’d easily recommend this. It extends the usability of the device ten-fold, and really feels like it completes the package, and just feels like it really completes the entire experience.
